




     In the early twentieth century, Ernest Hemingway wrote the story “Hills Like White Elephants”, and the story gives an accurate depiction of what it was like to live in the roaring twenties. Although generally remembered for the prosperity enjoyed in America in that era, Hemingway paints a dismal setting for his characters in the story, but also uses the behavior of the female companion to represent women in that time period as rebellious and un-conforming. In the story, Hemingway uses alcoholism and abortion to show a paradigm shift for the way women carried themselves, going from traditional to a more modern way of things. By going throughout the story, readers can see how the concepts of alcoholism and abortion helped Hemingway highlight the idea of individuality for the woman, showing the rebellious nature and un-conforming ways of the newly introduced modern woman.

     During the twenties, the United States enacted the eighteenth amendment, also known as prohibition. At the time, this meant the manufacture, sale, import, export and transportation of alcohol was banned by the constitution. The movement against alcohol, also known as the temperance movement, was led by woman. The woman responsible for this movement goes by the name of Carry Nation. As said in the article “Prohibition in the United States “Her first husband died of alcoholism and this may have influenced her actions. Carry was arrested and fined dozens of times but nothing stopped her crusade. Carry never lived to see national prohibition introduced - she died in 1911, but her actions and speeches influenced many who eventually voted for the ban on alcohol.” Carry led the way for many contemporary women in America to follow in her footsteps and continue the movement, which helped establish a negative attitude towards drinking and the people who did. The impact of Carry is also stated in “prohibition in the united states”, “Many women, notably the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, had been pivotal in bringing about national Prohibition in the United States of America, believing it would protect families, women and children from the effects of abuse of alcohol”. Despite a negative view of drinking by those in the twenties, characters in Hemingway’s story consume multiple alcoholic beverages in a considerably short amount time (noting that the story is said to take place in about a thirty to forty minute time span). Early in the story we see the couple sit down and order Dos cervezas, later they come back with two anis del toros, and at the end, order multiple other drinks while waiting for the train (Hemingway 527-530). The large  consumption of alcohol by the female companion shows a deviation from the attitude about alcohol traditionally held by women of the time period. By drinking those copious amounts, the female companion shows a new sense of individuality for women by not conforming to societal expectations about drinking. The rebellious nature of her actions show the paradigm shift to “the modern woman”, further tearing down the notion that a traditional view is the view that was socially acceptable. 

     Abortion has been a subject of much controversy throughout its history, especially in the United States where it has been taboo for centuries. In the twenties, abortion was a crime in America and could not be done in legal or safe means. Katha Politt in her article “Abortion in American history” states that in the twenties, 15,000 women a year died from abortions, an alarming number out of the estimated two million abortions a year that were performed in the late twenties. In addition to being risky and illegal, abortion was also socially unacceptable in this time period, as it was condemned by the church, which made them very difficult to obtain. The procedure of abortion was also made a spectacle in the twenties in America, discouraging women from seeking help if they were left ill or hurt from a procedure. They were generally frowned up heavily by much of American society, and considered one of the ultimate sins.  Women who had complications from abortions in the United States who sought medical attention were, as Pollitt states:

...the Journal of the American Medical Association endorsed the by then common policy of denying a woman suffering from abortion complications medical care until she "confessed" -- a practice that, Reagan shows, kept women from seeking timely treatment, sometimes with fatal results (Pollitt “Abortion in American History”). 

The “spectacle” of the practice made it an uncomfortable subject at the time, and would’ve definitely been taboo to put in a story in that time period. Although not explicitly said, there many implications made to abortion in the story. The male took the female companion to Spain, and the story follows their dialogue about the procedure. In the middle the story, the male can be seen trying to convince the female to go through with the operation, assuring her, “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and it’s all perfectly natural.” (Hemingway 529) Despite the attitudes towards abortion and the practice, the American male in the story is able to convince the female companion to go through with the operation through the use of spotty persuasion. The female companion again illustrates the concept of the modern woman, showing a sense of ownership over her body. She perfectly expresses a sense of individuality in this moment that is not expressed by those who thought in a traditional light in the time period that this story was written. She doesn’t let the expectations of society determine how he handles her personal situation, and demonstrates the paradigm shift between the traditional and modern woman. Hemingway includes this scene to show women that they are free to choose what they should do with their bodies, making readers of his time challenge their own values and beliefs. 

     With “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemingway successfully show a shift in the ways of feminine thinking. The female companion in the story shows everything but traditional values, and her sense of individuality and display of ownership over her body illustrate the values and beliefs of a modern woman. Hemingway showed that despite pressures from society and other women, that there would eventually be a big shift in the ideals that were considered socially acceptable by American society, and made readers of his time face the reality of the upcoming change. He used the temperance and prohibition movement to show how times would eventually change, from a non-tolerance of alcohol and negative view of drinking, to a view of sense of self and non-conformity to societal expectations by doing what one think is right. In the end, Hemingway’s representation of the woman of the twenties as rebellious and un-conforming helped open the door for the eventual paradigm shift. 





     